The Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA): Past, Present, and Future [MJM 1997 3: 46-66]

Just as Kierkegaarde observed that, "life must be understood backward [but]...lived forward" (1), so it is with science, which must be performed forward--but may be written backward. In the telling, the phenomenon of scientific revisionism unfortunately omits much of both the humanity and the enjoyment of the scientific process. "How could they have guessed that those results would be obtained?" asks the novice. With due respect to "gut" intuition, the answer is very frequently that "they" couldn't have guessed. Yet, the most exciting science is that which leads to unexpected findings and requires the eye and mind of the iconoclast to realize that new ground has been broken.